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What It Means to Be Single
Anyone that says they are single by choice is mistaken.
Today, the single population outnumbers the married population, and has for nearly a decade. A statistic that professor, and ‘Is Marriage for White People,’ author Rick Banks emphasized in his 2013 Ted talk at TedxStandford. Being single is not a choice but the new normal, as marriage declines, and the adult population increases. For the first time in history, it is now marriage that is by choice, and statistically, it’s a choice many adults are delaying, or not choosing at all.
For the first time in history, it is now marriage that is by choice, and statistically, it’s a choice many adults are delaying, or not choosing at all.
In the 1950s and early 1960s almost all adults in the United States were married. Marriage for centuries was viewed as a rite of adult passage. Just like earning a diploma, or getting your first real job, marriage in America was an individual’s next step towards independence and the mark of adulthood. As one of the world’s oldest practices, this should come as no surprise. What is surprising however, is how such a widely adopted tradition has quickly unraveled with steep declines that shows no signs of an upturn any time soon.
